HE was one of John Toshack’s brightest hopes for the future – now Richard Duffy is fighting just to be a part of it.

And the defender knows that means ending his Portsmouth problem fast.

Swansea-born Duffy was one of the first youngsters of the Toshack generation, capped at just 19 and hailed as a right-back regular for years to come by the Wales boss.

Yet, just two games in four years for Premier League Pompey has done little to help the player or Toshack’s predictions of his potential as the emergence of Gareth Bale, Lewin Nyatanga and Chris Gunter put Duffy’s star in decline.

Axed from the international scene a year ago, Duffy was given a surprise reprieve last week and returned to the fold against Luxembourg.

But he knows to stay there means leaving the limbo at Fratton Park, where he has not kicked a first-team ball all year, and making the most of being sent to Coventry on loan.

“I was thrilled to get the call from John Toshack to come back into the squad,” said Duffy, now 22. “But I’m not stupid. I can’t expect to play international football if I’m not playing for my club.

“I can’t afford another season like this one or people will be looking to write me off. I want to be out of Portsmouth as quickly as possible.”

Hardly surprising given how his time on the south coast has gone.

Signed by Harry Redknapp in a £150,000 deal in 2004, the same manager has seemingly refused to give Duffy his chance with the only senior action coming through loan moves here, there and everywhere.

Little surprise it has taken its toll.

“I figured out a couple of years ago that it wasn’t going to happen for me; Harry Redknapp just didn’t even bother to speak to me,” he said.

“I used to go into training every morning and get ignored.

“I wasn’t the only one; there were a few of us in that position. He had his players who he was going to play and that was the end of it. If you weren’t one of them, you didn’t count.

“The silent treatment was so hard to take. I would have rather he gave me a rollicking or something, at least get some reaction. I just didn’t feel wanted there. I’d wake up some mornings and feel I didn’t even want to go in.

“I’d never put Harry Redknapp down for the job he’s done at Portsmouth; it is nothing short of fantastic.

“And I don’t have any regrets about making the move there.

“People say I could have waited another year and got more experience before moving, but you don’t know if you will ever get the chance again.

“But I guess managers all have their own ways and you’ve just got to deal with it and keep your head down.”

Redknapp had fought hard to get his man, praised him to the hilt when he caught supporters eyes with his first top-flight performances and – after returning from his spell at Southampton – quickly re-signed Duffy on a new contract.

Yet it has only been on his loan travels that Duffy has gained the game time, possibly a lack of stability contributing to what Toshack saw as a lack of progress.

He dropped Duffy and David Cotterill from the squad to face New Zealand last May, claiming he had to “shake the bag” and wanting to make sure his young players “did not feel part of the furniture”.

One of the first arrivals of the Toshack generation could well have been its first victim. It is not something the Wales manager wanted to see happen, often claiming Duffy would be the natural successor to Mark Delaney and getting as frustrated as much as the player himself, having pinned his future as international boss on youth.

Yet, being sent to stay at Coventry for a fourth spell, this time with the hope of a permanent contract at the end of it, could be the platform the youngster needs to show that, while he may have lost his way a little, he has not lost the ability and potential to still be a hit in the big time.

“I know we can’t just go around blaming other people for what happens in your life, you’ve got to take a certain amount of blame yourself,” he said.

“You ask yourself, ‘have I done enough’.

“But two games in four years; I wouldn’t say that was a fair crack of the whip.

“Hopefully I will get a chance now and things can work out differently for me with Chris Coleman at Coventry.

“He is Welsh after all and he’s from a different generation of manager too.